KINDERGARTEN 



3241 



KINDERGARTEN 



bubbling over with stories of their week-end 

 experiences, which they are encouraged to tell. 

 The kindergartner tries to connect each child's 

 contribution with some phase of their previous 

 work or play. In order to connect the chil- 

 dren's thought of the country more closely with 

 their own lives, she tells a story of the little 

 boy who learned that, although the farmer 

 took many things from the farm to the city 

 children, he always had to take back from the 

 city some things that his children at home 

 needed. She then asks the children whether 

 they would like to tell this story with their 

 blocks. The suggestion meets with ready as- 

 sent. 



Since the period of conversation and story 

 has occupied nearly half an hour, a period of 

 games follows, that the children may- have op- 

 portunity for exercise before proceeding with 

 their building. In this, the memory of park 

 playground apparently lingers in the children's 

 mind, as the merry-go-round is the first game 

 asked for. In this, the children form two 

 circles, one within the other, both facing in- 

 ward. The children in the inner circle join 

 hands and form the merry-go-round, while 

 those dn the outer circle "ride," each one plac- 

 ing his hands on the shoulders of a child in 

 the inner circle, ready for the dancing around 

 the circle together. This suggests the dancing 

 of the leaves, as the next game asked for is 

 "Like a Leaf or Feather," in which the children 

 imitate dancing leaves. A sense game with 

 fruits and vegetables follows, and "The Apple 

 Man" brings the period to a close. 



The children now form into two groups, one 

 of which goes to the farther table to continue 

 work upon several sets of doll furniture, to be 

 used in the near future for the furnishing of a 

 doll house. The children in the remaining 

 group move the small tables away, leaving a 

 clear floor space across the end of the room. 

 Six of the children are selected to make the 

 farmer's fields and buildings at one end of the 

 space, while the others build the city houses 

 and stores at the other. The children get from 

 the cupboards the enlarged fifth and sixth gift 

 blocks, and begin their building on the floor. 

 Since they have used this material many times, 

 it is not long before the farm buildings are 

 ready in the one space, and the city street, 

 with homes and stores, in the other. The chil- 

 dren then represent the farmer taking his 

 produce to the city, by means of a toy horse 

 and wagon, and his returning to his home with 

 his wagon laden with articles from the city 



stores. The other group of children is in- 

 vited to see the city and country picture. The 

 "picture" in question is left on the floor to be 

 enjoyed further. The session closes with a 

 period of songs, finger rhymes and stories re- 

 told by the children. 



Some .Conclusions. From such a morning's 

 work, the thoughtful observer cannot fail to 

 draw several conclusions. The first one is that 

 the children's happiness in their work and play 

 must have its source in the satisfaction of 

 certain fundamental needs the companionship 

 of their equals and occupation in line with 

 their interest and ability. Another conclusion 

 is that the child gardener needs thorough and 

 varied training in order to know how to utilize 

 the children's play interests in such a manner 

 as to further their progressive development. 

 In order to do this successfully, she must ob- 

 serve their unguided play, for the purpose of 

 discovering their native interests, to the end 

 that she may wisely plan her work for them. 

 A further conclusion is that, since children's 

 needs vary, several lines of work are required 

 to satisfy them, and these, woven together in- 

 formally, constitute the kindergarten program 

 of exercises. 



From the program described, it is evident 

 that nature observation had been emphasized, 

 and that certain observations formed the 

 thought basis of the work done. The different 

 lines of work carried out the play with ma- 

 terial, the games, the songs and the stories 

 all served as means of expression of the chil- 

 dren's thought. That the work in these sev- 

 eral lines cannot fail to send the children into 

 the primary grades prepared to take up the 

 work there successfully, is another conclusion 

 that cannot fail to be drawn. 



How It Meets the Children's Needs. To 

 understand the true significance of the kinder- 

 garten, it is necessary to consider the means 

 and methods by which -it meets the children's 

 varying needs. 



Among these, the need for companionship 

 with children of the same age is one of the 

 most insistent. In the home, the child is too 

 often either a monarch or a subject. In the 

 kindergarten, he is an individual among his 

 equals. From his play there at one time with 

 a little group, perhaps of his own choosing, 

 and at another as a member of the whole he 

 experiences the joy of mingling with his fel- 

 lows and is stimulated to his best effort by the 

 opportunity for comparing his own achieve- 

 ments with those of his companions. The 



